


The Stork's Gift

by lipsomniac



Category: LOONA (Korea Band)
Genre: F/F, bros to mothers to lovers, fluff? bromance? crack? idek, lipves raising a baby, newfound family, ot12 are there but some of them are minor characters, side viseul and 2jin
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-10
Updated: 2020-11-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:34:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26392729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lipsomniac/pseuds/lipsomniac
Summary: Jungeun and Sooyoung are roommates but barely know each other. At least until someone drops a baby on their doorstep and Sooyoung decides to keep it for an unknown reason, much to Jungeun's dismay.
Relationships: Ha Sooyoung | Yves/Kim Jungeun | Kim Lip
Comments: 17
Kudos: 101





	1. The Delivery

**Author's Note:**

> Do you know that myth about storks bringing babies in a bundle? Well...
> 
> Anyway, this fic will be multi-chaptered, so this only the beginning. I hope you'll like it!

Jungeun picks up a pink unicorn sock from behind the couch. It’s already for the fourth time this week. Usually, she would pinch her nose, grab the sock, and bring it all the way to the laundry room with the rest of Sooyoung’s dirty clothes. But this time, she’s had more than enough of her roommate’s filthy habit.

Maybe if she throws away the older girl’s socks, after a while she won’t have any left and she won’t leave them lying around in their living room. It does sound like a decent plan. At least until Jungeun opens the bin.

She can’t stand the idea of wasting money. Not even Sooyoung’s.

If Jungeun threw away the socks, Sooyoung would have to buy new socks. And then maybe she could not pay her part of the rent. But Sooyoung has been going through enough financial trouble as it is. She has paid her rent late several times. Jungeun knows it because she has seen the mail from their landlady that her friend had forgotten on the coffee table. In fact, Sooyoung has almost been evicted several times.

Of course, Sooyoung has never told Jungeun about it. The two girls aren’t that close, and they pay rent separately, so why would Sooyoung tell her anything about her difficulties? Anyhow, Jungeun doesn’t want to risk getting a new roommate. The older girl might be messy, but at least she’s nice, and she can cook, which is a lot better than Jungeun herself can do. Before Sooyoung arrived, she would order delivery every night, because the time she burnt her tteokbokki left a bitter taste in her mouth, and she doesn’t want to risk cooking again.

Jungeun closes the bin and her eyes before inhaling deeply and yelling.

“Sooyoung! Can you please come here?”

A chair shuffles upstairs, and footsteps make their way down the wooden staircase. Sooyoung is wearing her reading spectacles, and her hair is tied in a low ponytail. She looks tired, and mildly irritated.

“This better be important. You interrupted me in the middle of my study session on mitochondria.”

Why Sooyoung suddenly decided to quit her job and go to med school, Jungeun still doesn’t know to this day. What she knows is that her roommate spends an awful lot of time studying. 

Sometimes the younger girl feels bad for nagging so much at someone who is working so hard, but still, living together means that they both have to put in effort so the house doesn’t become a pigsty. It’s not something that can weigh on Jungeun’s wide shoulders only.

“I’ll be done quick, don’t worry.” She raises Sooyoung’s unicorn sock up to eye level. “Please put your dirty socks in the laundry basket. I’m tired of finding them all over the living room.”

Still very calm, she shoves the sock in the other girl’s hand, and pats her shoulder as an encouragement. Sooyoung stays there, silent, sock in hand, eyes fixated on the kitchen counter, as if she’s not processing what’s happening, completely out of it. Jungeun doesn’t need to say more, though. The mitochondrion in her roommates’ brain cells would do its job and she would catch on the socks issue soon enough.

* * *

* * *

“Sooyoung, you need to take a break.”

Jungeun leans on the doorframe, looking at her roommate hunched over her desk, scribbling on her flashcards. The only moment Sooyoung ever takes her nose out of her manuals is when she cooks and eats. And that’s only once a day.

Jungeun can’t imagine herself studying that hard. Or studying at all, for that matter. She was relieved when she got offered a position in her mother’s company right after high school and did not need to go to university. Don’t get her wrong, Jungeun does work hard, and she’s not afraid to throw herself into her job. But she would hate having to bring her leftover work at home. Home has to be a place to unwind.

But Sooyoung… she never gives herself a break.

“I can’t, I still have two chapters to go over” the other girl says without looking up from her notes.

Jungeun lets out a groan. She doesn’t want to be the devil on her roommate’s shoulder. Quite the opposite, in fact. The younger girl knows that giving her brain cells some rest would help Sooyoung learn better.

“Be honest, are you still retaining information or are you just nibbling with words you won’t remember tomorrow because your brain is fried?”

Sooyoung raises her head from her notes, inhaling deeply and looking straight ahead, eyes closed, her whole body stiff, visibly pissed at the disturbance.

“Can you please Leave. Me. Alone.”

“No. I’m not going anywhere until you take a break. I’ll watch you study just to disturb you if I have to.”

Sooyoung knows Jungeun would not let it go. She never lets things go. Call her stubborn if you wish. The older girl finally looks at her.

“Fine. But you’re cooking. If I’m taking a break I may as well be entertained.”

Jungeun smirked as Sooyoung closes her notebooks, giving in.

“Too bad, I already ordered pizza.” She paused. “Oh, and we’re watching Tangled.”

Sooyoung’s eyes instantly widen, and Jungeun thinks she has never seen them this big. The med student shakes her head vigorously.

“I am  _ not _ watching Tangled. If we’re watching a movie, we’re watching a horror movie.”

“I thought you were scared of ghosts.”

Sooyoung has mentioned a few times seeing a person standing behind her in their bathroom mirror. Jungeun usually laughs it off, but she can’t shake away the thought that her roommate does look a bit scared, so either Sooyoung is paranoid, or their house is really haunted. In any case, the simple fact Jungeun will never know the truth is scary in itself.

“Just because I see ghosts, it doesn’t mean that I’m scared of them. Plus, there are other types of horror movies. They don’t all have ghosts.”

Jungeun grimaces. She only used Sooyoung fearing ghosts as an excuse to avoid watching a horror movie because she is scared herself. Her plan failed. She pouts, hoping it makes the older girl change her mind.

“You know I hate horror movies.”

Sooyoung pats her mockingly on the top of her head, grinning.

“My break, my pick.”

Jungeun knows surrender is her only option. She would do anything for her roommate to stop studying for one evening. Even if it means having Sooyoung witness the moment she will inevitably hug a pillow very tight and cry into its feathers. Her shoulders drop in defeat.

Sooyoung opts to watch  _ Hush _ , and it doesn’t take long for Jungeun to hide her face in the pillow while the older girl sneers from the other side of the couch. If Jungeun was not too scared to see anything gory on the screen, she would throw the pillow at her roommate. But she  _ is _ too scared.

“Come here! I’ll keep you safe.”

Sooyoung opens her arms, grinning. Jungeun knows Sooyoung is teasing her. 

She’s already on edge because of the movie, and her roommate making fun of her is the last thing she needs. It’s the drop that makes the vase overflow. She glares and throws the pillow full force in the other girl’s face.

“What the hell Jungeun? I was trying to be nice!”

The older girl has a smug look on her face, only pretending to be offended. Jungeun has had enough of her crap. She is scared. She needs to be comforted, not made fun of. But she’s too proud to admit that.

“Screw you, Sooyoung.”

Jungeun kicks her in the shin from across the seat. Sooyoung gasps. Her face contorts in pain and Jungeun can see tears forming in the corner of her eyes. Serves her right. Jungeun hasn’t even kicked that hard. Sooyoung is being a drama queen.

The older girl throws the pillow back at Jungeun and turns the other way, her back facing the younger girl, going silent while she stares at the screen.

The movie reaches its climax. The woman is hiding in her bathroom. Jungeun can barely raise her head from the pillow anymore and she can feel goose bumps all over her body. Sooyoung has ended up facing her again, but she hasn’t made fun of her anymore, probably too absorbed in the film.

And right then, the bell rings.

Sooyoung jumps in her seat, and Jungeun shivers, paralyzed the fear that has overcome her. It takes her about a second to realize one of them has to go answer the door. She looks at her roommate, who paused the movie but doesn’t budge.

“Aren’t you gonna open it?” Jungeun asks.

“No, you can do it.”

Sooyoung shrugs and Jungeun wants to be mad at her nonchalance. How can she be so calm when the doorbell rings right in the middle of a horror film?

But then she remembers the person she should be angry at is the person who rang their bell at 11pm on a weeknight, disturbing their peace. Or at least what would be their peace if Jungeun was not already petrified by fear.

Still, Jungeun’s whole body is under the influence of the paranoia induced by the movie they’ve been watching, and she has to make sure a serial killer isn’t waiting for her behind the door. She goes to the kitchen and grabs the first weapon she finds, just in case. She doesn't even know how to use it but being armed is reassuring.

She walks to the door when Sooyoung interrupts her.

“What are you doing with my butcher’s knife? You look insane.”

Jungeun stops dead in her track. She could admit to Sooyoung that she’s scared. But she could also just shrug and ignore her. She opts for the latter.

She places her hand on the doorknob, feeling the blood pulsing in the point of her fingertips, knife raised in the other hand, ready to strike. She opens the door slowly, only to be met with the sight of… nothing. No one is standing behind it.

She looks around, scared that the murderer might be hiding in the front yard. All she can see is a black van driving away at the corner of the street. She takes a careful step outside, but her foot encounters something heavy.

When Jungeun looks down, she squeals and jumps backwards in surprise. The last thing she expected to find on her doorsteps was a new-born swaddled in a blanket, sound asleep. She takes a closer look. There’s a paper with Sooyoung’s name on it folded between two layers of fabric.

Jungeun looks at the baby. Something tells her to run away, that she shouldn’t have anything to do with it. She’s only too happy to hand the matter over to her roommate.

“Sooyoung? There’s a… huh… a package… for you.”

“Can you bring it here?” Sooyoung’s voice is faint because of the distance separating the entrance from the living room.

Jungeun feels a bit bad leaving a baby on the cold floor outside on a November night, but the situation is so unusual she doesn’t know what else she’s supposed to do. What if she picks it up and it starts to cry? Better leave Sooyoung deal with it. It’s pretty clear she’s the person who was meant to find the baby in the first place.

“Hm… No. I think you’d better come pick it up yourself.”

Jungeun hears the other girl groan, but she still stands up and hobbles towards the porch. It’s weird. The younger girl has never seen Sooyoung limp before.

The med school student pushes her gently to the side of the door, and her eyes open wide when she looks at the floor.

“What in the world…”

She squats slowly, wincing, and grabs the letter. Jungeun tries to read over her shoulder, but she can’t see anything, not even the expression on her friend’s face. If Sooyoung is usually very expressive, this time, she’s undecipherable. Jungeun purses her lips. The baby is still sleeping, undisturbed.

Sooyoung folds the letter, shoves it in her back pocket and grabs the infant carefully. Jungeun watches her bring it inside.

The older girl sits down on the couch, cradling the baby in her arms. Jungeun follows her and stands next to the coffee table.

“We have to call social services” she states.

Sooyoung looks up at her.

“No.”

Jungeun’s eyes widen, shocked by the firmness in her friend’s voice. Sooyoung is looking her straight in the eyes, and that is how Jungeun knows that the other girl is serious.

“What? We have to. There’s an abandoned baby on our doorstep. We  _ have _ to call them.”

Sooyoung shakes her head, her eyes growing dark. Jungeun sees her stiffen, while still cradling the baby with extreme gentleness. The contrast between how she looks at the baby and how she looks at Jungeun is stark.

“No, we’re not calling social services.”

Jungeun raises her arms, looking at the ceiling in despair. They can’t steal a baby like that. Even if it was abandoned in the first place.

“What do you think you’re doing, Sooyoung? We can’t just keep that baby! Who’s gonna take care of it?”

“We can, and I am.”

This is one of the times when Sooyoung’s stubbornness will exceed Jungeun’s. And the younger girl can’t stand it. She is practical, and her friend sounds completely disconnected from reality.

“How are you gonna take care of a baby? You barely have enough time to take care of yourself. And what if it was stolen and someone dropped it here to frame us?”

Sooyoung rolls her eyes. Her tone gets more aggressive, protective.

“ _ She _ was not stolen. And  _ I _ have to take care of her. There’s no point arguing, you won’t make me change my mind.”

Jungeun is astonished. There is no way Ha Sooyoung could take care of a baby. This is  _ not _ a good idea.

“Whose baby is she, then?”

“Her name is Hyejoo.”

Jungeun rolls her eyes once more. Someone’s name isn’t enough info to convince her that keeping this baby in their house isn’t dangerous.

“Okay, who’s Hyejoo?”

Sooyoung raises the baby in her arms, pointing at it with her chin.

“Her.”

This really doesn’t answer the question Jungeun asked, and she is losing the tiny bit of patience she still has left. Her voice gets colder.

“Okay. Cool. Who is her mother?”

Sooyoung is still looking at the baby. Jungeun isn’t sure if she imagines the fondness in her roommate’s eyes, or if it’s truly there.

“Me. I’m her mother now.”

By then, Jungeun is questioning her friend’s sanity. But she’s tired, and she doesn’t want to fight. It’s late, and she has gone through a wide scale of emotions already, getting angry is the last thing she needs. Yet, her mind still screams for logic.

“What are you gonna feed her? Where is she gonna sleep? Can you change a diaper?”

“Well, you’re gonna watch her while I go buy formula and other stuff she’ll need at the convenience store. She’ll sleep with me until I can get her a proper bed. And of course I can change a diaper, I have cousins, you know?”

Jungeun places her two hands in front of her defensively. Sooyoung is delusional, there is no other way she can be asking something like that to her, Kim Jungeun.

“I’m not watching her.”

“Go buy her stuff, then” Sooyoung deadpans.

Sooyoung takes one arm off the baby to reach for something in the inside pocket of her jacket and shoves several bills in Jungeun’s hand.

“Here. Buy a baby bottle, formula, diapers and baby-wipes. I’ll go buy the rest tomorrow.”

Jungeun stands there, incredulous. Her instincts are screaming at her that she should not help Sooyoung with this baby, that it’s dangerous. Something feels off, and her roommate clearly doesn’t want to tell her what she knows about  _ Hyejoo _ .

Hell, Jungeun realizes she’s starting to call the baby by her name in her own mind. She’s doomed. She’s already too involved.

Jungeun gives one last look at the older girl, whose eyes are still locked on the baby’s face, as if it’s a magnet. Sooyoung would not change her mind. And this tiny human being deserves to at least get taken care of properly for the night. So, Jungeun leaves, not without thinking that Sooyoung owes her one.

* * *

* * *

The weekend goes by, and if it’s usually a revitalizing moment for Jungeun, this time, it’s not. The baby cries several times a night, and it’s clear Sooyoung doesn’t know how to calm her down. It doesn’t help that the wall between their rooms is thin. Jungeun hears everything. Even the moment when Sooyoung warms the baby bottle too much and poor baby Hyejoo cries her lungs out because of the burn.

That time, Jungeun feels so much pity she gets out of her bed and teaches Sooyoung how to properly make a baby bottle.

Fun fact: the younger girl does  _ not _ like babies, but she had to do baby-sitting in high school, when she was saving up to pay for her driver’s license. She knows how to take care of them properly. She simply does not enjoy it very much.

One major thing she can’t bear about babies is their cries. That’s the main reason why she decides to help her roommate. The better the baby would be cared for, the better Jungeun would sleep, and the less cranky she would be. That’s her main interest.

And despite doing her best to keep the baby satisfied so she can get some rest, she’s exhausted. Sooyoung is not in a much better shape either.

On Sunday evening, Jungeun is sitting deep inside the cushions of the couch, eyes closed, making the best of the silence that has been reigning over the house for the past ten minutes, when she feels a huge mass plop down next to her, making the whole couch move. Sooyoung sighs loudly. Could she be any more disturbing?

Jungeun opens her eyes and looks at her roommate.

“You brought this upon yourself. Upon us, actually” she says with a stern voice.

The older girl doesn’t reply, staring at the dark, unmoving TV screen. Jungeun continues.

“I still think you should hand her over to social services.”

Sooyoung stiffens once more. Jungeun can see her jaw clench. She doesn’t get why Sooyoung always got so defensive about the baby.

“I am not calling them. She’s mine to take care of, now.”

And Jungeun still doesn’t understand why Sooyoung insisted on keeping that baby, who is definitely not hers, and who possibly has a real biological mother looking for her everywhere. The med student can’t even study anymore, now that she’s taking care of a stranger’s baby. She’s about to ruin her future for a baby that should have never been hers to take care of.

“How will you even do that? How will you explain it to other people?”

Sooyoung sighs again, but this time it’s filled with desperation more than exhaustion. The older girl’s fingers tap nervously on her thigh.

“I don’t know, Jungeun. I don’t know.”

Jungeun finally notices something she’s been missing all along: her friend’s eye is shiny. Not bright with happiness. Rather alert. Full of stress. Sooyoung is  _ scared _ .

“Why are you keeping her?”

Jungeun doesn’t want to corner her roommate into giving an answer. She doesn’t want to interrogate her or judge her. But she does feel the need to understand what is going on. If she is to help, she would like to know what she’s getting into. What obstacles they might face, whether practical or metaphorical. Jungeun has never been one to leave things to chance.

“I have to.”

Sooyoung’s answer does nothing to quench Jungeun’s thirst. The younger girl swallows loudly, her teeth gritting. Before she can protest, her roommate continues.

“I can’t tell you why. Literally, I can’t. I’m sorry. It’s just… I have to. I need you to stop asking me to give her away, because I won’t. You don’t have to help me. But don’t throw a spanner in my works. Please.”

The older girl is visibly on the verge of crying. Jungeun doesn’t understand why. She probably never would if Sooyoung didn’t intend to explain. But somehow, she can feel that Sooyoung’s motives are genuine, and that’s enough. She can sense that the other girl needs reassurance more than she needs practicality or scoldings to get in her way. For once, Jungeun decides to put aside her need for rationality and squeezes her friend’s hand.

“Okay. I just hope her mother isn’t looking for her and that we won’t get sued or something like that. But I guess you know what you’re doing, and I won’t interfere.” She paused. “You got this, Sooyoung.”

Jungeun isn’t sure if what she’s saying is true. Her roommate has had her share of difficulties taking care of the baby in the past two days. But encouraging her would do her more good than bringing her down. She would get the hang of it, eventually. All new parents have a hard time at first, right?

“We won’t be in trouble, trust me. Anyway, I hope she’s in good enough hands with me. This little girl deserves a good life. I have to try my best.”

Sooyoung’s intentions are noble, Jungeun would at least give her that. Still, she’s scared that her roommate is taking on a task that’s out of hand. Raising a child doesn’t come down to feeding it and changing its diapers. It's a long-term commitment. One that a busy med student cannot make. Not on her own, at least. 

Everything that could possibly go wrong pops up in Jungeun’s mind.

If that baby has been kidnapped, or something like that, Jungeun is now an accomplice. The thought scares her. She doesn’t break rules, ever. She doesn’t even bend them.

All she can do is sit next to her roommate, squeeze her hand once more, pray everything will go well, and do her part of the chores before the baby wakes up again. Jungeun always finds things to do in the house. Being active makes her feel grounded, safe. Doing the dishes would certainly help her deal with the rising anxiety of being stuck in a situation she did not willingly agree to be in, that she can’t control and that comes with hundreds of risks to turn her life into chaos.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, how was it? Are you excited for what's gonna happen next? I am. I can't wait for you guys to read about the chaotic life of lipves' family with mysterious baby Hyejoo, and their friends!!
> 
> You know the drill: leave kudos, comment, interact with the art, share it with all your fellow lipves enthusiasts, etc... ♥  
> (feedback is the way to my heart, btw)
> 
> Huge thanks to matt for beta reading it! your feedback was so precious. thank you! thank you! thank you!
> 
> [curiouscat](http://curiouscat.qa/lipsomniac) \- [twitter](https://twitter.com/lipsomniac) \- [ko-fi](https://ko-fi.com/lipsomniac)


	2. The Bundle's Content

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hiii! i'm sorry this took ages.. i somehow started randomly working on other stuff (you should check my jinseul dystopia, btw, i really like it -- yes i'll shamelessly self-promote, so what?)  
> anyway, i'm really excited for you to read this, and i hope you'll enjoy it!!

You would think that Jungeun would be relieved to leave the house on Monday morning to go to work. But, in fact, the stress hits her as soon as she wakes up naturally at 6am.

Who’s going to take care of the baby today? Sooyoung has to go to class. Jungeun won’t let her skip. If she had studied philosophy, maybe she would have, but med school? That’s not something you can catch up on easily. And Jungeun is not about to let her roommate ruin her life even more than she’s already doing by kidnapping a baby.

Maybe Jungeun can call her mother and ask for a day off. She feels like she has to figure something out. The infant should not be her responsibility, but they live under the same roof, so she might as well make sure that it’s cared for, and nothing illegal happens.

Yet, she can’t stay inactive in her bed and just think and overthink. 

She gets up and gets on with her daily routine: a stop by the bathroom to splash water on her skin, a trip to her closet to put on clothes, all to get to her final destination: the kitchen, where she drinks a cup of black coffee.

That’s what she needs to tackle a day of her bureaucratic life. Jungeun doesn’t mind office work, but it still drains her brain. You can’t blame her for wanting to kickstart it with a bit of caffeine.

“Hey.”

Jungeun turns to look at the door. Sooyoung is standing there, her hair dishevelled and dark circles stretching below her eyes. Hyejoo has cried several times that night. Of course, Sooyoung is tired.

She can only blame herself. She’s the one who didn’t want to give the baby up.

That doesn’t mean Jungeun won’t help.

“Do you want me to take a day off to watch the baby while you go to class?”

Jungeun still cannot bring herself to call the baby by her name out loud. She’s managed to imprint it in her brain, but she doesn’t want to say it with her mouth.

Sooyoung shakes her head.

“I already asked Jinsol to come over.”

Jungeun gasps.

“Jinsol?! Are you kidding me?”

The blonde is the reason the two of them are roommates in the first place. When she told Jungeun she had a friend from high school who was looking for a room, Jungeun told her to bring her friend over to meet her. The three of them had a nice little pizza night in the living room, and that’s how Sooyoung moved in.

“Could have been worse” Sooyoung retorted.

Jungeun disagrees. Jinsol is supposed to be looking for a job, not babysitting an abandoned baby for free. Sooyoung ruining her life by stealing a baby is one thing, but making others ruin theirs too? That’s a no no.

“How could it have been worse? Jinsol has never even taken care of a baby.”

Sooyoung rolls her eyes.

“It could have been Hyunjin.”

Jungeun doesn’t know who Hyunjin is.

“I don’t know who that is, but I think anyone is better qualified than Jinsol. And she was supposed to go job hunting today.”

“Hyunjin is a friend of mine. She’s good with kids but she’s… weird... sometimes. I can totally see her spin a baby around, pretending to be a helicopter or something like that. Poor Hyejoo would probably just throw up on her. Which would be deserved, to be honest. Maybe Jinsol will try to teach her maths, but she won’t be a safety hazard.”

Jungeun closes her eyes and shakes her head. She doesn’t think Jinsol is a much better candidate for the babysitting job.

“I really can take a day off, you know?”

Then, muffled knocks are heard on the front door. Sooyoung checks her phone.

“No need. Jinsol’s already here.”

The other girl walks away to welcome their friend, and Jungeun sips the last drop of coffee. It tastes more bitter than usual.

The blonde’s smile is wide as she walks into the kitchen.

“Hi Jungeun!” she says in a loud voice.

“Shhh!” Jungeun scowls.

Jinsol is taken aback by the not-so-welcoming look on her best friend’s face, but Jungeun couldn’t care less. The other girl can’t start her babysitting day by waking the baby up.

“Sorry. Hello to you too, by the way. Where’s the baby?”

Sooyoung points to the ceiling with her chin.

“In my room. She’s still asleep. According to her sleeping pattern these past few days, she should be up in about an hour.”

Jinsol nods, still smiling. She seems really enthusiastic about taking care of the infant, which Jungeun finds weird. Her friend has never expressed her love for children. Maybe she simply hasn’t had the occasion to do so.

“Alright. Thank you for trusting me with this. I can’t wait to meet her!”

Maybe it isn’t that bad that Jinsol is taking care of Hyejoo, after all. Maybe she needs a distraction after getting fired from her fencing event journalist gig for stabbing one of her interviewees with a prop foil as a joke.

“So, when she wakes up, you have to change her diapers, and then you bottle feed her. Everything is in my bedroom and the milk doses are already prepared. You just have to put it in warm water and shake. Then you check the milk temperature by putting a drop on the back of your hand to make sure it isn’t too hot before you give it to her. We don’t want her to get burnt… again.”

Jungeun is partly impressed because Sooyoung is taking her newly found motherhood seriously, and she partly wants to laugh because Sooyoung is using her own mistakes to tell Jinsol not what to do. At least she learns fast.

“Again?! What did you do to her?” Jinsol seems shocked. “I got it, don’t worry. Where are her clothes, by the way?”

Sooyoung frowns.

“Her what?”

Jinsol raises an eyebrow.

“Her clothes? You know, the things I have to put on her when I change her diapers?”

Jungeun observes the exchange with both desperation and amusement. She knows for a fact that she and Sooyoung have been using the same one piece and jammies Hyejoo had when she came in and that it’s not very sanitary. Jungeun realized only yesterday that she hadn’t thought of that when she went to the supermarket to buy baby stuff. And shops were closed on Sundays so they had to postpone shopping anyway.

“Hmm… She… doesn’t have clean clothes?”

Sooyoung looks embarrassed, but Jinsol is still smiling, as if everything about the situation is fine, when it’s clearly not..

“It’s okay, I’ll put her in her stroller and I’ll go to the mall. If you trust my taste in clothes, of course.”

The baby’s probably gonna end up with a variety of maritime-patterned clothes, for all Jungeun knows. But as long as Hyejoo gets clothed, she doesn’t care.

Sooyoung is about to protest, but Jinsol interrupts her.

“Where’s your stroller?”

Sooyoung purses her lips.

“Well…”

“Oh please, don’t tell me you don’t have that either?!”

For someone who has never taken care of a baby, Jinsol is taking charge quite well. Jungeun starts to think she can go to work with a peaceful mind. Not that she cares about the baby.  _ Of course _ , not.

“No, I don’t… It’s not like I could plan I would be getting a baby drop-shipped on my doorstep.”

Jinsol sighs, and Jungeun can tell she’s heard the story of how Hyejoo got there. She wonders, however, what Sooyoung told her exactly. Does Jinsol know that the other girl is planning on keeping the baby forever instead of bringing her to the social services as she should?

“I guess I’ll use her dirty clothes then, if I don’t have a choice.”

Sooyoung looks apologetic and Jungeun can’t help but feel bad for her, even though she disapproves of her choices. She sighs.

“I’ll go buy some clothes on my break and I’ll drop them by at lunch.”

Sooyoung’s eyes go wide, and Jinsol’s grin is back on her face.

“You will? Thank you, Jungeun” the med student says. “Now, if you ladies will excuse me, I have to get ready for class. Thank you again for doing this, Jinsol. I know you had more important things to do today.”

“No problem, it’s my pleasure” Jinsol says as she does the weird hand signs she always does and that Jungeun has never understood.

Jungeun puts her cup of coffee down in the sink and turns towards her best friend.

“I hope you know what you’re getting into.”

Jinsoul furrows her eyebrows.

“What? Is the baby difficult?”

Jungeun shakes her head.

“No but, you know, she’s… a baby.”

“Yeah, and?”

Jungeun smiles and pats her friend on the shoulder.

“You’ll understand soon enough. Call me at the office if you need anything.”

Jinsol nods and Jungeun leaves the kitchen, grabs her handbag in the living room and walks out of the house. She prays to whoever or whatever is out there, watching over them, that things will go well, and that the baby will be in one piece when she comes back. Being convicted with kidnapping is one thing. Being convicted with child abuse or manslaughter is another. And Jungeun is ready to accept neither of those.

  
  


* * *

Surprisingly, when she gets home at lunch with baby clothes tucked under her left arm, the baby is still alive. She finds both Jinsol and Hyejoo sleeping on the couch, the blonde’s head resting on the back, the baby laying on her chest. One of them is drooling, but Jungeun won’t tell you who, to protect their image.

None of them wakes up when she enters the living room, so she walks with soft footsteps to the dining table. She places the pile of baby clothes there, hoping the size will fit. She doesn’t know how long it will take before they-- before  _ Sooyoung _ needs to buy new ones, but these will do for now.

Jungeun grabs a paper in her handbag and scribbles a note.

_ There you go! I bought jammies with Nemo on it because I knew you would like it. Have fun! _

_ P.S.: please clean the drool from the sofa, it’s gross. _

The younger girl still remembers when she and Jinsol took their first swimming lessons together. They said Jungeun was Nemo and Jinsol was Dory, and they pretended to be lost in the swimming pool. Those were good times that Jungeun still thinks of fondly.

She and Jinsol have never left each other’s side since that day. Jungeun feels bad for getting her involved in the baby mess too. In her opinion, the less people involved, the better.

She gently pats her friend’s head on her way out and runs her hand through her hair. It’s easier for Jungeun to be affectionate when no one can see.

* * *

Jungeun manages to get off work early. She doesn’t want Jinsol to have to spend her whole day looking after the baby. She should take the reins, now. Until Sooyoung gets home and takes care of  _ her _ baby herself.

But Jinsol’s plans are very different. The day has gone just fine, and no matter how many times Jungeun tells her she can go home, the blonde doesn’t budge. She’s in the same position as Jungeun found her at noon, with the baby sleeping over her chest. Except this time, the blonde is wide awake.

“It’s very relaxing, you know, to have a baby asleep like that on you? She’s so peaceful.”

Jungeun doesn’t answer. She wouldn’t know. She has held Hyejoo only to feed her, change her diapers, or put her to sleep when Sooyoung didn’t manage to. And she has always put her back on Sooyoung’s bed as soon as her eyes closed. She doesn’t want to spend any more time than necessary with a kid that shouldn’t even be there in the first place.

* * *

When Sooyoung gets home, Jinsol is still there, but Hyejoo is asleep in Sooyoung’s bed, this time.

The three girls eat together. Jinsol tells Sooyoung that things went well, she shows her the clothes Jungeun bought, and Sooyoung just smiles. Jungeun can tell that her smile is only masking how exhausted she must be. 

Jinsol goes on and on about how great the baby is. She’s very cute. She’s easy to lull to sleep. Jinsol even tried to sing her a self-written song and Hyejoo seemed to like it. Or so Jinsol thinks. Jungeun doesn’t think the baby realizes what Jinsol was singing, but she keeps herself from saying that.

And then, finally, Jinsol gets a text from her mother asking her to come back home, and she leaves. Sooyoung walks her to the door and comes back to the kitchen, smirking.

“I got the baby’s birth certificate during my break, by the way.”

Jungeun frowns, anxiety rising in her chest. This is starting to look like real trouble.

“With whose name on it?”

Sooyoung looks Jungeun straight in the eyes. How can Sooyoung be so nonchalant about something so big? Something that’s tying her to another human being for the rest of her life?

“Mine, of course.”

Doubt creeps even more into Jungeun’s bones. How is such a thing even possible?

“How did you…?”

“Told them I’d given birth at home after denial of pregnancy. I wasn’t expecting it. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know I had paperwork to do the day she was born.”

Jungeun raised an eyebrow at Sooyoung’s dramatic reenactment of the scene.

“And they believed you?”

Sooyoung smirked again.

“Are you surprised? You know my acting game is good.”

“Actually, I don’t. But good for you, I guess!”

It isn’t good, actually. 

And now, baby Hyejoo is officially Sooyoung’s. There is no way they’ll ever give her away to the social services. It still feels very wrong. And Jungeun is a part of it, whether she likes it or not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so, what do you think sooyoung told jinsol?  
> did you like the chapter? tell me ♥
> 
> follow me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/lipsomniac). ask questions or leave your thoughts on [curiouscat](http://curiouscat.qa/lipsomniac). support my writing on [ko-fi](https://ko-fi.com/lipsomniac).


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